Keith Martin
-
Keith’s Blog: 10 Years with Land Rovers
According to my notes, on June 18, 2009 — 10 years ago — I bought a 1973 Land Rover Series III 88. The crude-but-entertaining 88 was the beginning of our exploration of the world of Rovers. The Rover saga started with the 2009 annual Porsche Northwest Passage 1,000-mile tour. I was driving our 2002 Boxster…
-
Heart vs. Head
There are two cars that always pull at my heartstrings. The first is a 1956 Mercury Montclair. My grandfather bought one new. I have fond memories of riding in the backseat of that car. It was two-tone Bumblebee Yellow and black. My grandfather loved that car — it was a step up from the Mercury…
-
Keith’s Blog: Bye-Bye Bugeye
As I wrote in my last column, I have decided that it is time for the SCM Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite to go. I’ll be sad to see it leave, as we have done so much to make it exactly the excellent driver that we wanted. At the same time, chances are it will go to…
-
Keith’s Blog: Summer and the SCM Fleet
“Value in use.” That’s always been the motto of the cars in the SCM collection. What’s the point in having classic cars if you are not going to use them? Most of the SCM cars were built more than 50 years ago. They were never designed to be in service this many years after they…
-
Keith’s Blog: My Life With Cars: The 1963 Giulia Spider, Part III
This is the continuing saga of my first Alfa Romeo. It was a red 1963 Giulia Spider Normale. I bought it in 1968 when I was 17 years old. It was an exotic, alloy-engine, twin-camshaft sports car. I tried to maintain it on a shoestring budget. This lead to many types of improvised roadside repairs.…
-
Keith’s Blog: 1963 Alfa Giulia Spider, Part II
It was the summer of 1968. I was 17-years-old and had just graduated, as class valedictorian, from Lincoln High School in San Francisco. I was accepted to Reed College in Portland OR, but there was no financial aid available. Tuition, along with room and board on campus, was about $3,000 a year — the same…
-
It’s the Memories That Matter
My son Bradley was 10 when I bought him a 1960 Bugeye Sprite two years ago. I was setting us up to make father-and-son memories together. I chose a Bugeye because that was my first car. The day I turned 16, I was first in line to take my driving test. An hour later, after…
-
Keith’s Blog: My Favorite Cars: 1963 Giulia Spider
My first two cars were British — a 1960 Austin-Healey Bugeye Sprite and a 1958 MGA. “When are you going to get a real sports car?” asked my good friend Bjarne Holm. Bjarne was driving his mother’s 1958 Giulietta Spider Normale. We were parked outside Lakeside Presbyterian Church near Stonestown in San Francisco. This was…
-
Keith’s Blog: A Mother/Daughter Road Trip
Last Saturday my daughter Alexandra and her mother Cindy Banzer took the SCM 1967 Giulia Super on an Alfa Romeo Owners of Oregon tour. It was a 112-mile dash from Portland to Astoria on the Oregon coast and back. This was the 41st running of The Old Spider Tour, celebrating the founder of the club,…
-
Keith’s Blog: My Favorite Alfa is a 4-door Sedan
I had a chance to go for a drive in the SCM Giulia Super last weekend. We took a scenic, winding route, starting on Portland’s curvy Skyline Boulevard and passing through the tony Pearl District downtown. From there we headed out through an industrial area on Highway 30 and then crossed the cathedral-like St.…